Return Zero VR is due to release today on Steam

The Porto indie studio has released Return Zero VR, which has become the first Portuguese VR game to ever been released on Steam. A major update was also released for all platforms.

September 12, 2016 – Porto, Portugal – Ground Control Studios is proud to announce the release of Return Zero VR on Steam plus a major update on all platforms.

According to the developer, the game was slated to be released in August, but was delayed due to, among other reasons, bureaucratic/clerical issues. September saw the project completed and finally made available on all platforms. This PC version is compatible with Oculus (DK2, CV1), HTC Vive support will be made available on the next update.

The game is a tunnel-racer that takes place on a Tron-like world, being the player in control of a very fast spaceship. The goal of the game is to be fast enough to reverse time and beat all the races in all the available worlds.During the month of August, the developer finalized a major update to the game, which brought among other tweaks, procedural racetracks and the ability for the tracks to change and shift during a race. This addition will bring a new difficulty/challenge layer, and added replay value for the players. This update is already available for download on all platforms.

The Steam version offers online leaderboard integration, allowing players to compete both for the best track times and global game completion times.The VR component of the game has the player controlling the ship using only his gaze, thus creating an interesting experience concerning interaction.

“We felt that having game-pads or other non-motion controllers is a complete immersion-breaker in VR, so we wanted to try something different. Using gaze control is also perfect for mobile, since it’s a more convenient interaction method,” siad Rui Guedes, Lead Game Designer.

Another key-point for the game was comfort while playing, which had the developer do extensive research and testing to create a good balance between excitement and a enjoyable experience.

“VR is a daunting concept to many people, present them a game so fast and so exciting-looking like Return Zero, and they will instantly assume that it is going to make them sick. Nothing could be further from the real experience. We have tested and tweaked that bit for a very long time, it is very hard for someone to feel sick playing Return Zero VR. It is one of the most comfortable VR experiences we’ve ever produced,” said João Martins, Lead Developer.

Currently the developer expects to add more features and more elements to the game.

“It all boils down to adoption. Return Zero VR is a complete game and it is being released as such, but that does not mean we cannot change a couple of details to make it better and more enjoyable to players. There’s always something you can improve on a game such as this. How deep those improvements will go only depends on player response and feedback,” said Rui Guedes, Lead Game Designer.

The developer was also caught by surprised when they discovered that they have been the first Portuguese studio to commercially release a VR game, thus adding up to their previous achievement of being the first Portuguese studio do release VR content on Samsung GearVR.